How to Protect Yourself from Internet Thieves and Hackers

How to Protect Yourself from Internet Thieves and Hackers

This article will teach you basic steps how to protect yourself from thieves and hackers on the internet.

Part 1 of 4: Creating Strong Passwords

1. Never use the same password for more sites. It is very common mistake. Create a new password for every site. If you do not remember your passwords, try a program or computer application that can store your passwords for you, securely.

2. Create a strong password!

• Never use something like your name, name of your pet, your date of birth or combination of both. For example michal1998 is totally weak password.
• Make sure your password contains:
• At least one big or one small letter.
• Numbers.
• At least one special symbol (&^#@...)

3. Change your passwords frequently. If you suspect your accounts have been compromised in any way, change your passwords immediately.

Part 2 of 4: Getting Anti-Virus Software

1. Don't overlook anti-virus software. This step is very important, if you are not extremely careful on the internet.

2. Download an antivirus program (Avast, Norton, Bitdefender ...). It is your choice.

• Antivirus will keep you safe for example from
• Keylogger. (Keylogger scans everything what you type on your keyboard.)
• Trojans.
• Rootkits.
• Backdoor viruses.
• And more...

3. Make sure that your antivirus is reliable. Search for reviews before download.

Part 3 of 4: Protecting Yourself from Phishing

1. Realize that phishing is a common tactic of internet thieves:

• Somebody creates a site which is similar for example to Facebook, but actually everything what you will do on that site is monitored. So if you did not recognize a fake site and fill your password in, you are in trouble.

2. Always look at the URL if you are not sure that the page is reliable. If you are going to log on Facebook, but your URL is not Facebook.com, but for example f4cebook.example.com do not fill something and leave that page quickly.

Part 4 of 4: Using Secure Email

1. Your email is key for everything. Make strongest password for it and choose the best email client. Some email providers, like Gmail, allow you to set a 2-step verification system, which is extremely secure!

2. If some site requires your password for your email, leave it. If there is a option log in via Facebook, or Google+ you may use it, you will be logged automatically or Facebook/Google+ log in window will appear.

3. Do not register on suspicious sites. If you are not sure, do not risk it.

Tips

• Nothing you are doing on the internet is anonymous. Everything is stored in databases.
• Having a tons of antivirus software is not always the best solution; it may slows down your computer.

Warnings

• If you think something is wrong with your computer, do not ignore it; handle with it! Your computer maybe infected and became a spamming machine or bot and you do not know it.
• If your computer is infected and you cannot find how to remove the virus, stop using your computer and contact a computer specialist.